• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.3855-3863
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• 2022

An evaluation of the radiation shielding performance of high-Z-particle-loaded polylactic acid (PLA) composite materials was pursued. Specimens were produced via fused deposition modeling (FDM) using copper-PLA, steel-PLA, and BaSO₄-PLA composite filaments containing 82.7, 75.2, and 44.6 wt% particulate phase contents, respectively, and were tested under broad-band flash x-ray conditions at the Sandia National Laboratories HERMES III facility. The experimental results for the mass attenuation coefficients of the composites were found to be in good agreement with GEANT4 simulations carried out using the same exposure conditions and an atomistic mixture as a model for the composite materials. Further simulation studies, focusing on the Cu-PLA composite system, were used to explore a shield design parameter space (in this case, defined by Cu-particle loading and shield areal density) to assess performance under both high-energy photon and electron fluxes over an incident energy range of 0.5-15 MeV. Based on these results, a method is proposed that can assist in the visualization and isolation of shield parameter coordinate sets that optimize performance under targeted radiation characteristics (type, energy). For electron flux shielding, an empirical relationship was found between areal density (AD), electron energy (E), composition and performance. In cases where ${\frac{E}{AD}}{\geq}2MeV{\bullet}cm{\bullet}g^{-1}$, a shield composed of >85 wt% Cu results in optimal performance. In contrast, a shield composed of <10 wt% Cu is anticipated to perform best against electron irradiation when ${\frac{E}{AD}}<2MeV{\bullet}cm{\bullet}g^{-1}$.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.453-458
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• 2014

SiC and its composites have been considered for use as nuclear fuel cladding materials of pressurized light water reactors. In this study, a $SiC_f$/SiC composite as a constituent layer of SiC triplex fuel cladding was fabricated using a chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process in which tubular SiC fiber preforms were prepared using a filament winding method. To enhance the matrix density of the composite layer, winding patterns, deposition temperature, and gas input ratio were controlled. Fiber arrangement and porosity were the main parameters influencing densification behaviors. Final density of the composites decreased as the SiC fiber volume fraction increased. The CVI process was optimized to densify the tubular preforms with high fiber volume fraction at a high $H_2$/MTS ratio of 20 at $1000^{\circ}C$; in this process, surface canning of the composites was effectively retarded.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.552-560
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• 1994

A composite of TiB2-Al2O3 system was successfully prepared from a mixture of TiO2, B2O3, and Al by self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) with a novel characteristic, utilizing the internal oxidation heat of aluminium metal of the mixture, instead of by a conventional technique, externally heating a mixture of Ti, B and Al2O3. From a mixture with B/Ti molar ratio of =2.0, pure two phases of TiB2 and $\alpha$-Al2O3 with good crystallinity and small, uniform sizes were formed. However, when the B/Ti molar ratio of the mixture goes to a value less than 2.0, in addition to the above main minerals, a small smounts of metastable phases such as TiB and Ti3B4 were formed. It was found that about 60%, the optimum green density of compacts gave their highest reaction rate and temperature during SHS process. TiB2-Al2O3 system composite with B/Ti molar ratio of =2.0 could be pressurelessly sintered even at 190$0^{\circ}C$ under Ar gas flows without any addition of sintering aids, showing their good properties such as 91.2% in relative density, 2750 kgf/$\textrm{mm}^2$ in Vickers hardness and 2620 kgf/$\textrm{cm}^2$ in flexural strength.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2016

For a long time, a top priority in the nuclear industry was the safe, reliable, and economic operation of light water reactors. However, the development of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) became a hot topic in the nuclear research field after the March 2011 events at Fukushima, Japan. In Korea, innovative concepts of ATF have been developing to increase fuel safety and reliability during normal operations, operational transients, and also accident events. The microcell $UO_2$ and high-density composite pellet concepts are being developed as ATF pellets. A microcell $UO_2$ pellet is envisaged to have the enhanced retention capabilities of highly radioactive and corrosive fission products. High-density pellets are expected to be used in combination with the particular ATF cladding concepts. Two concepts-surface-modified Zr-based alloy and SiC composite material-are being developed as ATF cladding, as these innovative concepts can effectively suppress hydrogen explosions and the release of radionuclides into the environment.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.362-368
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• 2022

The application of polymer composite electrolyte in all-solid-state lithium-sulfur battery (ASSLSBs) can guarantee high energy density and improve the interface contact between electrolyte and electrode, which has a broader application prospect. However, the inherent insulation of the sulfur-cathode leads to a low electron/ion transfer rate. Carbon materials with high electronic conductivity and electrolyte materials with high ionic conductivity are usually selected to improve the electron/ion conduction of the composite cathode. In this work, PEO-LiTFSI-LLZO composite polymer electrolyte (CPE) with high ionic conductivity was prepared. The ionic conductivity was 1.16×10^-4 and 7.26×10^-4 S cm^-1 at 20 and 60℃, respectively. Meanwhile, the composite sulfur cathode was prepared with Sulfur, reduced graphene oxide and composite polymer electrolyte slurry (S-rGO-CPEs). In addition to improving the ion conductivity in the cathode, CPEs also replaces the role of binder. The influence of different contents of CPEs in the cathode material on the performance of the constructed battery was investigated. The results show that the electrochemical performance of the all-solid-state lithium-sulfur battery is the best when the content of the composite electrolyte in the cathode is 40%. Under the condition of 0.2C and 45℃, the charging and discharging capacity of the first cycle is 923 mAh g^-1, and the retention capacity is 653 mAh g^-1 after 50 cycles.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.115-118
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• 1999

Carbon composites with $MoSi_2$ dispersion were prepared by hot-pressing at $1700^{\circ}C$ under 30 MPa for 1 h using polysilazance as binding material. The composites consisted of C, $Mo_{4.8}Si_3C_{0.6}$ and SiC. Bulk density and porosity of the carbon composites with 10 vol% $MoSi_2$ was 1.8g.$\textrm{cm}^{-3}$ and 34%, respectively. This composite was oxidized about 0.05mm from the surface of the carbon composite after oxidation test at $1500^{\circ}C$ for 10h in air. Formation of the $SiO_2$ glass layer was observed by SEM. When this composite suffered damage in the coating layer, it had hardly farther oxidation because of its self-repairing property. The composite prepared in this study indicated good oxidation resistance.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.74-81
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• 2021

Silicon (Si) is recognized as a promising anode material for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries. However, under a condition of electrode comparable to commercial graphite anodes with low binder content and a high electrode density, the practical use of Si is limited due to the huge volume change associated with Si-Li alloying/de-alloying. Here, we report a novel core-shell composite, having a reversible capacity of ~ 500 mAh g-1, by forming a shell composed of a mixture of nano-Si, graphite nanosheets and a pitch carbon on a spherical natural graphite particle. The electrochemical measurements are performed using electrodes with 2 wt % styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and 2 wt.% carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) binder in an electrode density of ~ 1.6 g cm-3. The core-shell composites having the reversible capacity of 478 mAh g-1 shows the outstanding capacity retention of 99% after 100 cycles with the initial coulombic efficiency of 90%. The heterostructure of core-shell composites appears to be very effective in buffering the volume change of Si during cycling.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.177-187
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• 2021

The effect of nanoparticle volume fraction on the elastic properties of a polymer-based nanocomposite was experimentally investigated and the obtained results were compared with various existing theoretical models. The nanocomposite was consisted of high density polyethylene (HDPE) as polymeric matrix and 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 wt.% multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) prepared using twin screw extruder and injection molding technique. Nanocomposite samples were molded in injection apparatus according to ASTM-D638 standard. Therefore, in addition to morphological investigations of the samples, tensile tests at ambient temperature were performed on each sample and stress-strain plots, elastic moduli, Poisson's ratios, and strain energies of volume units were extracted from primary strain test results. Tensile test results demonstrated that 1 wt.% nanoparticles presented the best reinforcement behavior in HDPE-MWCNT nanocomposites. Due to the agglomeration of nanoparticles at above 1 wt.%, Young's modulus, yielding stress, fracture stress, and fracture energy were decreased and Poisson's ratio and failure strain were increased.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.20.2-20.2
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• 2011

BMNO dielectric materials with a pyrochlore structure have been chosen and they have quite high dielectric constants about 210 for the bulk material. In the case of thin films, 200-nm-thick BMNO films deposited at room temperature showed a low leakage current density of about $10^{-8}\;A/cm^2$ at 3 V and a dielectric constant of about 45 at 100 kHz. Because high dielectric constant BMNO thin films kept an amorphous phase at a high temperature above $900^{\circ}C$. High dielectric constant BMNO thin films grown at room temperature have many applications for flexible electronic devices. However, because the dielectric constant of the BMNO films deposited at room temperature is still low, percolative BMNO films (i.e., those were grown in a pure argon atmosphere) sandwiched between ultra-thin BMNO films grown in an oxygen and argon mixture have greater dielectric constants than standard BMNO films. However, they still showed a leakage problem at a high voltage application. Accordingly, a new nano-structure that uses BMNO was required to construct the films with a dielectric constant higher than that of its bulk material. The fundamental reason that the BMNO-Bi nano-composite films grown by RF-Sputtering deposition had a dielectric constant higher than that of the bulk material was addressed in the present study. Also we used the graphene as bottom electrode instead of the Cu bottom electrode. At first, we got the high leakage current density value relatively. but through this experiment, we could get improved leakage current density value.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.303-310
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• 2017

Pressure retarded osmosis(PRO) has attracted much attention as potential technology to reduce the overall energy consumption for reverse osmosis(RO) desalination. The RO/PRO hybrid process is considered as the most logical next step for future desalination. The PRO process aims to harness the osmotic energy difference of two aqueous solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane. By using the concentrated water(RO brine) discharged from existing RO plants, the PRO process can effectively exploit a greater salinity gradient to reduce the energy cost of processing concentrated water. However, in order to use RO brine as the draw solution, PRO membrane must have high water flux and enough mechanical strength to withstand the high operational pressure. This study investigates the development of a thin film composite PRO membrane and spiral wound module for high power density. Also, the influence of membrane backing layer on the overall power density was studied using the characteristic factors of PRO membranes. Finally, the performance test of an 8-inch spiral wound module was carried out under various operating conditions(i.e. hydraulic pressure, flow rate, temperature). As the flow rate and temperature increased under the same hydraulic pressure, the PRO performance increased due to the growth of water permeability coefficient and osmotic pressure. For a high performance PRO system, in order to optimize the operating conditions, it is highly recommended that the flow pressure be minimized while the flow rate is maintained at a high level.